


Balcony Neighbors

by Ten_Petals10 (Rachel_Lu)



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 13:44:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4182036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Ten_Petals10





	Balcony Neighbors

Rose set down the last box and blew her hair out of her eyes.  She set her hands on her hips and glanced around her new flat.  It was rather lovely, spacious and open, with a balcony that the landlord told her was shared.  She was a little conscious to go onto it, in case her neighbor was outside.  She'd never met them.  Thinking on that, she walked towards the sliding glass door and made sure it was locked.

She started unpacking the boxes in her bedroom, smoothing out the pink bedspread on her Queen sized bed, wondering if things would ever be completely sorted.  She was surprised at how many things she had brought from her parent's house, considering she'd cleaned out all of her stuff before moving.

Something about dedicating the whole day to unpacking made her forget that the balcony was shared.  There were so many other issues she had to sort out, hooking up her phone, her cable, and by the time she'd had some take-away for dinner she was sprawled out on the couch and staring blandly at the ceiling.

Eventually she had her nightly craving for a cup of mint tea.  She whipped some up and headed out to the balcony, glancing at the "river view" that was promised to be spectacular.  She leaned over the railing, appreciating the rustic view in the middle of a city.  Something calm in all of the madness that surrounded her almost daily.

"Hello," A quiet voice said from next to her.  Rose jumped a little, spilling a little bit of tea but regaining her composure easily.  She took a sip of it and then set it on the railing.

"Hello," she replied, turning to the owner of the voice.

And oh, but he was gorgeous.  If she had known that she would've shot right to the balcony the second she got into the flat.  He had wild brown hair and wide eyes that Rose could easily find herself getting lost in.  He was wearing a pair of jimjams and slippers, so obviously he hadn't been expecting anybody coming onto the balcony.  He had a cup of tea in his own hands and he smiled softly at her, looking a fair share of tired.

"You're renting the flat?" the man jerked his head towards her door.

"Yeah," Rose nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear.  "What's your name?"

"John Smith," John adjusted his tea to hold out his right hand for her to shake.  She did so and smiled at him. 

"Rose Tyler," She responded, as their hands separated and she picked up her tea again.

"Rose Tyler," he drew out her name, and she nearly shivered.  "Are you sure you're not royalty?  That sounds like a regal name."

She smiled, biting her bottom lip.  "No, not royalty."

"How are you liking the place?" He asked.

"Just moved in today," She replied.  "I like it, it's very... Open.  I like the view," she nodded towards the river.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" John replied.  "No city noise, but you're still living in the city."

Rose nodded in agreement.  She glanced at her watch.  "I've got work tomorrow, John, so I'm going to.. Head in," she finished lamely.

"Same time tomorrow?" He grinned at her, and she had to smile back.

"Yeah," she said quietly, "I'd like that."

"Goodnight, Rose," John said as she turned to leave.

"Goodnight John," she replied, entering her flat and shutting the sliding glass door.  She locked it as quietly as possible so she wouldn't offend him and grinned to herself all the way until she fell asleep.

*****

The next night, Rose put possibly a bit too much effort into walking out onto the balcony.  She made sure her makeup was perfectly touched and donned a breezy dark blue sundress and gold kitten heeled shoes.  She thought about giving her hair a slight curl but decided it would be overkill.

She walked out onto the balcony with her tea and found John already there again, wearing a pair of dark jeans and an untucked dress shirt.  She smiled to himself at the thought that he had tried to look nice for this.

"Evening," she said quietly, sidling up next to him. 

He turned and beamed at her.  "Evening.  You look lovely."

She returned his smile.  "So do you."

"How are you settling in?"

"Just fine," she said, "It's dead quiet.  When they said no noise, they really meant it."

They talked for so long that it was so dark they could hardly see each other and both cups of tea had long since gone.  They had moved so that their shoulders were touching, brushing with every movement.  The more they touched, the more Rose wanted to run her hands up into his hair.  It was very nice hair.  Really, really great hair. 

"Do you have work tomorrow?" John asked quietly at around one in the morning.

"No, I don't.  Do you?"

"No," he replied.  "Would you like to come inside?  Eat something?"

She tried to study his eyes, and saw no malicious intent.  And for some strange reason, she trusted him.  She knew he wouldn't hurt her.  So she nodded and allowed him to lead her inside his flat.

It was immaculate for that of a man's, and she noticed he had books everywhere.  Stacked neatly on the table, shelves and shelves of them, a couple on his TV stand.  He had the plushest grey couch she'd ever seen and seeing as though it was one in the morning, she sort of wanted to cuddle up on it and fall asleep. 

John toed off his shoes, clearly getting comfortable.  Taking his lead, she did the same, and set her shoes next to his by the sliding glass door.  She shivered a little at the cold temperature of his flat. 

"Are you cold?" He asked, and she shrugged, not wanting to be a bother.  "Hang on."

He walked down the hallway and returned in record time with a grey zip up hoodie.  He handed it to her, and their eyes locked when their fingers brushed in the passing of the garment.  He swallowed audibly.  "I keep it rather cold in here, I'm sorry," he said quietly.  "This should keep you warm."

"Thank you," She replied, smiling as she slid on the hoodie and zipped it up in the front.  She had to resist the urge to shove her nose into the fabric and inhale deeply.  He smelled of no cologne she'd ever heard of, and it was something more intoxicating, something easy to obsess over, nearly irresistible. 

"What would you like to eat?" He asked.  "I've got a pizza place and Chinese on speed dial.  What do you think?"

"Pizza's fine," Rose said in response, her eyes never leaving him as he headed for the phone.  "I can run to my flat to get my wallet if you-"

"No, I'm paying," he said insistently.  "My flat, my money paid, understand?"  He smiled at her teasingly and winked.  "You can treat next time."

She grinned and walked over to him.  "That's fair," she said.

"Toppings?"

While they waited for the pizza, they talked more and John made tea.  Rose ended up perched on his counter, kicking her legs a little and occasionally poking him with her toe as he worked around the counter. 

"You've got a lot of books," she said absently, looking out over the kitchen island into the living room.  "What do you do?"

"I'm a Doctor," John replied breezily, pouring the hot water into two mugs.  Rose noticed that he had just used the one she had brought in.  "And I like reading."  He threw a grin her way.  "I haven't really got a lot of friends cause I'm all cooped up in here reading."

"I'm always working," Rose tilted her head onto her shoulder.  "So I can't say I've got a lot of friends either."

"Really?"  John furrowed his brows.  "Somebody like you, not many friends?  Sacrilege." 

Rose giggled and peered at him through her lashes.  "Good thing we're friends."

He stopped for a moment and smiled at her.  "Yes."

The pizza arrived with a very miserable delivery boy who would've gladly been anywhere else, Rose could tell.  John paid and chatted the boy up for a moment before saying goodbye, kicking the door shut ceremoniously behind him.

"Pizza!" He shouted, making Rose giggle and run to grab plates.

They ate on the couch, and their conversation slowed and slowed until their plates and mugs found their way to the coffee table and Rose made herself cuddled up under his arm, his fingers tracing along her shoulder.  It was a matter of minutes before they both fell asleep.

Rose woke up laying on top of him on the couch, and she waited for him to wake before she bid him goodbye and left, but not before he gave her a kiss on the cheek that she held on to for the rest of the day.

*****

They continued on like that for days, eventually John visited Rose's apartment with the same happenings, falling asleep on the couch, except her couch wasn't as big and they woke tangled together on the floor.

They stopped bringing tea onto their shared balcony and started holding hands.

She stopped locking her sliding glass door when she went home to her own flat, a silent invitation that he never took, the gentleman that he was.

One night when Rose was perched on his counter, wearing jeans and a sweater to compensate for the cold in his apartment, and John found himself standing between her knees.  He rested his hands on her thighs, looking into her eyes.  "Is this okay?"

She nodded slowly, running her hands up his arms to his shoulders.  "Yeah," she whispered, "This is okay."

His hands moved to her waist and he tugged her forward on the counter.  "Tell me if you want me to stop," he said firmly, his eyes dropping to her lips.

"Been waiting for you to start," she replied, sliding off of the counter so that she was shorter than him again.  She laced her fingers behind his neck.  "D'you think you could kiss me now?"

He smiled and wrapped his arms completely around her waist.  "Yeah, I think that can be arranged."

The first press of his lips against hers was tentative, gentle.  Within a few moments it quickly escalated, the soft press turning into the smooth gliding of lips against lips.  He slid one hand up into her hair, at the same time pressing her back into the counter.

She whimpered into his mouth, which seemed to make John's efforts double, his tongue slipping into her mouth with absolutely no resistance. 

After a few minutes of teasing and taunting through seemingly endless, blissful snogging, John pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.  "You haven't seen my favorite room of the flat," he said huskily.

"Which one would that be, John?" Rose asked, scraping her nails along his scalp.

He shivered at her touch and his voice lowered about two more decibels.  "The bedroom."

It took them a very long time to get to said bedroom, because they kept stopping to plunder each other's mouths and try to discard pieces of clothing along the way.  But the time they got their, Rose had lost her socks and sweater, and John was missing his dress shirt and somehow his watch.

"Just hold me," Rose whispered. 

John obliged completely, taking her in his arms and holding her tightly, pressing open mouthed kisses to her neck and shoulders, murmuring his adoration for her into skin.  "Rose, I think I may be in love with you.  Is that okay?"

"Only if it's okay that I think I'm in love with you too."

John pulled back from her with a shocked look on his face.  That look morphed into the most excited grin that she had ever seen in her life.  "Oh, brilliant," he said before crashing his lips to hers again.

***

Slowly, Rose's things moved into John's flat.  Slowly, Rose spent more nights in John's bed.  Eventually, John just decided they'd better get married and just sell Rose's flat.

Every night after they got married, Rose cuddled into John's arms and thanked God for that shared balcony.


End file.
